Vegetable orienting and crowning

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for orienting elongated articles such as carrots, asparagus, celery and the like, wherein one end of the article is heavier and/or larger in diameter than the other end. The articles are fed transversely to an inclined plane and each article rolls down the plane so that the larger end will roll farther down the plane than the smaller end. The article is then straightened in a straightening chute so that the larger end of the article will be the leading end. A feeding means conveys the articles to the edge of an open upper end of a chute which feeds the articles to a crowning device. The articles are dropped heavy end first into the open upper end of the chute. An orienting member is provided at the side of the open end of the chute opposite the feeding means to catch and retain lighter or smaller ends of the articles in the event that the lighter or smaller end of the article is the leading end of the article in the feeding means. The orienting means retains the lighter end of the article until the heavy end has passed from the feeding means and falls into the open end of the chute.

United States Patent I19] Chapman NOV. 5,1974

l l VEGETABLE ORIENTING AND CROWNING Robert R. Chapman, Lowell, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Sortex Company of North America,

Inc., Lowell, Mich.

[22] Filed: Oct. 24, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 299,925

[75] Inventor:

[52] U.S. Cl. 99/643, 99/443 C [51] int. Cl A23n 15/04 [58] Field of Search 99/635, 637, 486, 489,

Primary Examiner-Harvcy C. Hornsby Assistant Examiner-Arthur 0. Henderson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-McGarry & Waters [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus and method for orienting elongated articles such as carrots, asparagus, celery and the like, wherein one end of the article is heavier and/or larger in diameter than the other end. Thearticles are fed transversely to an inclined plane and each article rolls down the plane so that the larger end will roll farther down the plane than the smaller end. The article is then straightened in a straightening chute so that the larger end of the article will be the leading end. A feeding means conveys the articles to the edge of an open upper end of a chute which feeds the articles to a crowning device. The articles are dropped heavy end first into the open upper end of the chute. An-orienting member is provided at the side of the open end of the chute opposite the feeding means to catch and retain lighter or smaller ends of the articles in the event that the lighter or smaller end of the article is the lead ing end of the article in the feeding means. The orienting means retains the lighter end of the article until the heavy end has passed from the feeding means and falls into the open end of the chute.

12 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures DATENTEBNBV SIQM 23.845705 sum w 2 Pmmmuv 5m 3.845705 SHE! 20? 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to orienting articles and in particular to orienting elongated vegetables such as carrots, asparagus, celery and the like for operations such as crowning. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to orienting elongated articles having a heavier end and a lighter end. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to orienting elongated articles having one end of larger diameter than the other.

2. State of the Prior Art Vegetables, such as carrots, asparagus, celery, and the like, need to be topped or crowned prior tofood processing operations such as canning or freezing operations. Automated equipment is most desirable for this purpose. Devices are avialable which can cut the tops off the vegetables responsive to the presence of the vegetables at a cutting knife. The cutter assumes, however, a predetermined orientation of the vegetables at the cutter. If the vegetable is not properly oriented, the cutter will cut off a part of the vegetable and the uncrowned portion will fall into the bin with the crowned vegetables. It is thus necessary to make sure that the vegetables are properly oriented as they pass to the cutting device.

One device for crowning carrots is disclosed in the US. patent to Farrow, No. 3,601,171 In the Farrow vegetable topping machine, carrots are fed to the outside of a rotating cage formed by spaced circumferential bars. Oversized carrots are trapped in the bars and are carried by the drum past a cutter blade which removes the crowns. The undersized carrots fall through the bars and are carried to another such rotating cage with more closely aligned bars. The machine operates efficiently if all of the carrots are of uniform size. Carrots vary greatly in diameter and length. Therefore, either a grading operation or a number of rotating drumlike machines are required in order for the machine to operate efficiently. For example, if the carrots are somewhat larger than the bars, the crown is apt to be cut off a substantial distance from the top, thereby wasting substantial portions of the carrots. In other instances. the carrots may not be exactly perpendicularly situated within the bars. and the crowning operation may be incomplete.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, an orienting apparatus is provided for a large variety of sizes, shapes, and lengths of elongated vegetables which are fed heavy end or crown end first to a cutter which operates responsive to the presence of the vegetables to cut off the crown therefrom. In one aspect of the invention, elongated articles, such as carrots and the like, having a larger end and a smaller end are fed transversely and seriatim to an inclined surface so that the articles roll down the surface with the larger end of the article rolling farther than the smaller end in any given period of time. The articles are guided at the bottom portion of the inclined surface by'converging guide members into an orientation whereby the longitudinal axis is aligned with the direction of movement of the article. Since the larger end of the article rolls farther down the incline than the smaller end, the heavy end will tend to be the leading end of the article after the article is straightened by the guide means. Therefore, regardless of the initial orientation of the article at the top of the inclined surface, the larger end will tend to be guided by the converging guides to an orientation whereby the larger end of the article is the leading end as the articles emerge from the converging guide members.

The articles are then conveyed by a feeding means to a delivery chute which delivers the articles to a crowning device. The feeding means carries the articles to the edge of the delivery chute and the articles drop with the larger end first into the delivery chute. The articles drop from the feeding means when a sufficiently large moment is produced on the article over the delivery chute. The larger end of the article is the heavier end of the article and an article oriented with the heavier end first thus drops from the feeding means at a point earlier than'an article oriented with the lighter end as the leading end. In the event that, for some reason, the lighter end of the article is oriented as the leading end in the feeding means, an orienting member is positioned across the open end of the feed chute to receive the lighter end and hold the lighter end until the heavier end drops from the feeding means and into the chute. A suitable orienting member is a pivotably mounted tray, counter-weighted to a horizontal position. When the heavier end of the article drops from the end of the feeding means, the tray rotates to slide the article down into the opening in the feed chute.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described with reference I FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating a first step in orienting carrots which are fed with their small or lighter end as the leading end;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 illustrating the second step in orienting the carrots which are fed with their small or lighter end as the leading end;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along lines 8-8 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial view of the crowning mechanism and the tripping control therefor; and

FIG. 10 is a partial view seen along lines 10-10 of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT ratus will be described with reference to orienting of carrots although other articles can be thus oriented. The apparatus includes a hopper 12 into which the carrots are initially dumped and an elevator 14 passing through the hopper, lifting the carrots from the hopper 14 upwardly and depositing the same onto an orienting and straightening chute 16. Vibratory feeders l8 and 19 are positioned beneath the orienting and straighten ing chute 16 to receive carrots therefrom and to feed the same to a secondary carrot orienting mechanism 20. Carrots are dropped into a feed chute 22, crown end first, with the assistance of the secondary orienting mechanism, if necessary, and are fed thus oriented onto a conveyor 24. A sensing apparatus 26 is positioned along the conveyor 24 to view the carrots as they pass therealong. A crowning mechanism 28 is positioned at the end of the conveyor 24 to cut off the crowns of the carrots properly oriented on the conveyor mechanism.

The hopper l2 includes a pair of inclined side walls 34, an inclined back wall 30 having an opening 31 at the bottom thereof, and an inclined front wall 32. The elevator 14 has a flexible web 36 which is supported for continuous movement on sprockets 40 and 42. The web passes through the opening 31 in the back wall 32 and passes along the edge of the back wall 30 as it moves in the direction of the arrows illustrated in FIG. 1. The flexible web 36 has a plurality of staggered ledges 38 on the outside thereof for picking up the carrots 10 seriatim. Alternately, pegs or other similar projections can be used to pick up the carrots as the flexible web 36 moves through the hopper 12 along the surface of back wall 30.

The sprocket 40 is mounted on a shaft 41 which is journalled in upright frame supports 44. A sprocket 46 is also mounted on shaft 41 and is driven by motor 52 through sprocket 5t) and chain 48. In this manner, the flexible web 36 is driven in a continuous manner by the motor 52. 7

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 for a more detailed discussion of the orienting and straightening chute. A pair of upstanding fences 54 are positioned at the edge of an inclined planar surface 46 at the top of the elevator 14 to receive the carrots as they are discharged from the elevator 14. The planar surface 56 is as wide at the top portion as the elevator to receive the carrots in a transverse direction and is sufficiently long to permit the carrots to roll a certain distance down the planar surface. A narrowing guide chute 58 is formed at the lower portion of the planar surface 56 to guidethe carrots from a substantially transverse orientation to an orientation aligned with the chute. However, the rolling of the carrots along the planar surface tends to orient the carrot with the top or crown end thereof as the leading edge so that in most cases the carrot will be aligned with the crown end as the leading end as it emerges from the narrowing chute 58. This result is obtained due to the fact that the crown end of the carrot has a larger circumference than the lower end of the carrot and will roll farther in a given number of revolutions. Thus. the carrot predominantly emerges from the narrowing chute 58 and into the feeder tray 18 with the crown end as the leading end of the carrot.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, the vibratory feeder 18 has a wide V-shaped tray 60 with a side wall portion 62 cut away at the leading end thereof. The tray 60 is mounted for vibratory movement on a conventional vibratory motor 64 having a vibrating plate 66 and is connected to the motor through bolts 68. The cut away portion 62 of the tray 60 serves to eliminate a second carrot on the vibratory tray in juxtaposed position to a first carrot. In other words, if more than two carrots are fed at one time to the vibratory tray, one of the carrots will be dropped off the vibratory tray at the cut away portions 62.

The vibratory feeder 19 is of similar construction to the feeder 18 except for the cut away side portions 62. The feeder 19 has a wide U-shaped'tray 61 mounted on a plate 66a and driven by a vibratory motor 64a. The tray 61 is driven at a slightly faster rate than tray 60 to increase singulation of the carrots.

As seen in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8, the orienting mechanism 20 comprises a tray 70 aligned with the discharge end of the vibratory tray 61 but spaced therefrom on the other side of the opening to the feed chute 22. The tray 70 is mounted on a shaft 72 which is journalled in upright support brackets 82 at either side thereof. Bolts secure the shaft 72 in adjusted positions in slot 84 of brackets 82. Counterbalance rods 74 having counterbalancing weights 76 are mounted at either side of the shaft 72 to retain the tray normally in the horizontal position illustrated in FIG. 1. A stop 78 is secured to one end of the rod 72 and abuts at a lower portion a bolt 79 secured adjustably in slot 84 of brackets 82. The bottom of the stop 78 abuts the bolt only when the tray 78 is in a horizontal position to limit the movement of the tray 70 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 7. Also, as seen in FIG. 7, a springllO is secured at a bottom portion to bolt 112 which is mounted in slot 84 of brackets 82. The upper portion of spring 110 abuts the shaft 72 to dampen swinging or oscillation of the tray 70. The rotational movement of the tray 70 in the damping position is limited by a stop member 77 on shaft 72. The depending lower portion of stop member 77 strikes a bolt 75 in slot 34 of the other bracket 82 as the tray tilts (FIG. 8). The position of stop 77 in the tilting position of tray 70 is shown in phantom lines in FIG. 8.

Frame members 86 mount the support brackets 82 in adjustable horizontal position with respect to the vibratory feeder tray 19. Support brackets 82 have slots 88 through which bolts 90 extend to adjustably secure the brackets 82 on the frame members 86.

Referring once again to FIG. 1 and now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the conveyor 24 comprises a pair of spaced continuous belts 92 which are driven by motor 102 through a driven wheel 104. A trip lever 94 on a switch 96 projects upwardly between the conveyor belts 92 at the crowning mechanism for tripping by a shoulder of a carrot on the conveyor belt 92 to operate a switch 96.- As seen in FIGS. 9 and 10, the actuator projects upwardly only sufficiently to contact the carrot shoulder and will not be activated by the green portion 11 of the crown. Responsive to the proper position of a carrot on the conveyor belts 92, and responsive to tripping of the lever 94, the switch 96 actuates a pusher bar 98 through power means (not shown) to push the carrot against a blade 100. In this manner, the carrot is crowned, with carrot falling off the conveyor into a carrot hopper 106 and the crown falling into a hopper 108. The conveyor system 24 and the sensing apparatus 26 form no part of this invention, and for this reason, will not be further described herein.

OPERATION chute 16. Normally, the carrots roll down the planar surface 56 of the straightening chute 16 and will be predominantly oriented with the crown end as the leading end thereof. The carrots are thus fed to the vibratory feeder trays 60 and 61 which move the carrots therealong and dump the carrots into the feed chute 22. If the carrots are oriented with the crown end as the lead ing end, the crown will in some cases be projected from the end of the tray 61 and contact the tray 70. How ever, the crown end of the carrot being the heavier end, the carrot will start to tip as illustrated in FIG. 4, and will also tip the tray 70 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4. Thus, the carrot will drop, crown end first, into the feed chute 22. In other cases, the carrot will drop, crown end first, into the feed chute without contacting the tray 70.

In the event that the carrot is fed with the smaller or bottom end as the leading end, the bottom end will normally project across the gap between the feeder tray 61 and the tray 70 as seen in FIG. 5. Since the bottom end of the carrot is the lighter end, the carrot will continue to move across the gap until the crown end of the carrot passes from the end of the tray 60 as illustrated in FIG. 6. The carrot will then drop, crown end first, with the tray Ill pivoting about the shaft 72 to drop the carrot into the feed chute 22.

In the event that carrots too large pass through the machine, they will be carried on past the open end of tray 70 and will not drop into the chute 22.

In any case, when the carrots drop into the chute 22, they will be fed, crown end first, to the crowning mechanism 28. When the shoulder of the carrot reaches the knife blade 100, its presence will be sensed by thetrip lever 94 and switch 96 will be actuated responsive thereto. Immediately, the pusher bar 98 will rotate about its mounting 99; operated by suitable power means (not shown), such as a valve operated cylinder, to push the carrot against the blade 100. The trip lever will not be actuated by the green portion of the carrot as the lever is sufficiently low to avoid the same.

With the use of the orienting apparatus according to the invention, many different sizes of carrots can be oriented for crowning with a single machine. If the carrots vary in size to too great an extent, then the carrots can be graded according to length and crowned in separate machines. In the alternative, one size can be graded in the machine and the machine can then be adjusted to grade the other size.

The orienting apparatus according to the invention provides a simple yet effective means for rapidly and accurately orienting carrots for crowning or other purposes. The carrots are first oriented with respect to a larger end and then oriented with respect to a heavier end. Either one or both operations can be carried out. For example in the case of carrots, both orienting operations are carried out. In the case of celery and asparagus, conceivably only the second operation will be carried out. The orienting apparatus is very reliable and will effectively orient all carrots within a given size range so that they drop, crown end first, into the feeding chute 22.

Whereas the invention has been described with reference to an orienting apparatus having a rotatably mounted tray 70, it is within the scope of the invention to provide a nonrotatable tray in lieu of the pivoting tray 70, or to provide simply a wire to orient the carrot passing from the end of the feeder tray. The rotatable tray permits a wider size range of carrots to be oriented and thus eliminates substantial amounts of gradmg.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the foregoing disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privelege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An apparatus for orienting and crowning elongated articles, such as carrots and the like, such articles having a larger end and a smaller end, said apparatus comprising: i

an inclined planar surface means proportioned to permit said articles to roll transversely down the same a given distance, whereby said larger end of upper portion of said inclined planar means with the longitudinal axis of said articles transverse to the incline of said planar surface means;

whereby said articles roll from said planar surface means with said larger end first, and thereafter are guided by said straightening means to orient said larger end as said leading end of said article in said straightening means; and

means for severing portions of said heavy end of said elongated article.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said straightening means comprises an inclined tapered elongated chute.

3..An apparatus according to claim 1 and further comprising:

a conduit having an open upper end;

means aligned with the discharge end of said straightening means for feeding said articles from the exit end of said straightening means to one edge of said conduit;

orienting means positioned on an opposite edge of said conduit for receiving said smaller end of said articles which are oriented with the smaller end first and retaining said smaller ends of said articles until the larger ends thereof drop into said conduit, said orienting means permitting said article to fall, larger end first into said conduit when said articles are oriented with said larger end as said leading end.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said feeding means includes a hopper, a continuous conveyor having a bottom end in said hopper and having an upper end discharging onto said upper end of said inclined planar means; and means on said continuous conveyor for picking up said articles seriatim and disposed transversely to said conveyor.

5. An apparatus for orienting and crowning elongated articles, such as carrots and the like, said articles having a heavier end and a lighter end; said apparatus comprising:

a delivery chute having an open upper end;

means for feeding said articles seriatim to one edge of said open end of said delivery chute, with said articles being oriented with the longitudinal axis thereof aligned with the direction of movement to said open upper end;

said feeding means being positioned and feeding said articles at such a rate that said articles will fall, heavier end first, into said open end of said delivery chute in the event that said articles are oriented with said heavier end as the leading end in said feeding means;

orienting means at an edge of said open upper end opposite said feeding means to receive and support said lighter end of said articles when said articles are oriented with said lighter ends as the leading ends in said feeding means, said orienting means supporting said lighter ends until said heavier ends have passed the edge of said feeding means and have dropped first into said open end of said delivery chute, whereby said articles drop, heavy end first, into said delivery chute, regardless of the orientation of said articles in said feeding means;

means to sever a portion of said heavier end from said articles; and

means for sensing the presence of a shoulder of said article at said severing means and for operating said severing means responsive to the sensed pressure of said article shoulder at said severing means.

6. An apparatus according to claim wherein said orienting means comprises a plate; means for mounting said plate for pivotable movement about an axis transverse to the movement of said articles in said feed chute, and means to bias said plate into a substantially horizontal position, said plate rotating to dump into said open end articles which are oriented with said lighter end as said leading end, whereby said lighter ends pass across said open end and are received on said plate.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said feeding means includes a vibratory tray with a shallow groove and means to singulate articles on said tray so that said articles are fed seriatim to said delivery chute.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said singulation means includes an opening in at least one side of said tray adjacent said groove for discharge of multiple articles at the same location on said tray.

9. An apparatus according to claim 5 and further comprising means for adjusting the position of said orienting means with respect to said open end of said delivery chute.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said adjusting means includes means to adjust said orienting means vertically as well as horizontally with respect to said delivery chute.

11. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said sensing means includes a finger positioned to contact said article shoulders at said severing means.

12. An apparatus for crowning carrots and the like, said apparatus comprising:

severing means;

means for feeding said carrots to said severing means with the crown end thereof as the leading end; sensing means positioned at said severing means to sense the presence of a leading shoulder only of said carrot at said severing means, and

' means for operating said severing means responsive to the sensed presence of said shoulder at said severing means. 

1. An apparatus for orienting and crowning elongated articles, such as carrots and the like, such articles having a larger end and a smaller end, said apparatus comprising: an inclined planar surface means proportioned to permit said articles to roll transversely down the same a given distance, whereby said larger end of said articles will roll farther down than said smaller end in any given length of time; a straightening means positioned to receive said articles as they pass from the end of said planar surface means, said straightening means having means for guiding said articles to a position whereby the longitudinal axis of said articles are aligned with the direction of movement of said articles within said straightening means; means for feeding said articles transversely to the upper portion of said inclined planar means with the longitudinal axis of said articles transverse to the incline of said planar surface means; whereby said articles roll from said planar surface means with said larger end first, and thereafter are guided by said straightening means to orient said larger end as said leading end of said article in said straightening means; and means for severing portions of said heavy end of said elongated article.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said straightening means comprises an inclined tapered elongated chute.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 1 and further comprising: a conduit having an open upper end; means aligned with the discharge end of said straightening means for feeding said articles from the exit end of said straightening means to one edge of said conduit; orienting means positioned on an opposite edge of said conduit for receiving said smaller end of said articles which are oriented with the smaller end first and retaining said smaller ends of said articles until the larger ends thereof drop into said conduit, said orienting means permitting said article to fall, larger end first into said conduit when said articles are oriented with said larger end as said leading end.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said feeding means includes a hopper, a continuous conveyor having a bottom end in said hopper and having an upper end discharging onto said upper end of said inclined planar means; and means on said continuous conveyor for picking up said articles seriatim and disposed transversely to said conveyor.
 5. An apparatus for orienting and crowning elongated articles, such as carrots and the like, said articles having a heavier end and a lighter end; said apparatus comprising: a delivery chute having an open upper end; means for feeding said articles seriatim to one edge of said open end of said delivery chute, with said articles being oriented with the longitudinal axis thereof aligned with the direction of movement to said open upper end; said feeding means being positioned and feeding said articles at such a rate that said articles will fall, heavier end first, into said open end of said delivery chute in the event that said articles are oriented with said heavier end as the leading end in said feeding means; orienting means at an edge of said open upper end opposite said feeding means to receive and support said lighter end of said articles when said articles are oriented with said lighter ends as the leading ends in said feeding means, said orienting means supporting said lighter ends until said heavier ends have passed the edge of said feeding means and have dropped first into said open end of said delivery chute, whereby said articles drop, heavy end first, into said delivery chute, regardless of the orientation of said articles in said feeding means; means to sever a portion of said heavier end from said articles; and means for sensing the presence of a shoulder of said article at said severing means and for operating said severing means responsive to the sensed pressure of said article shoulder at said severing means.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said orienting means comprises a plate; means for mounting said plate for pivotable movement about an axis transverse to the movement of said articles in said feed chute, and means to bias said plate into a substantially horizontal position, said plate rotating to dump into said open end articles which are oriented with said lighter end as said leading end, whereby said lighter ends pass across said open end and are received on said plate.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said feeding means includes a vibratory tray with a shallow groove and means to singulate articles on said tray so that said articles are fed seriatim to said delivery chute.
 8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said singulation means includes an opening in at least one side of said tray adjacent said groove for discharge of multiple articles at the same location on said tray.
 9. An apparatus according to claim 5 and further comprising means for adjusting the position of said orienting means with respect to said open end of said delivery chute.
 10. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said adjusting means includes means to adjust said orienting means vertically as well as horizontally with respect to said delivery chute.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said sensing means includes a finger positioned to contact said article shoulders at said severing means.
 12. An apparatus for crowning carrots and the like, said apparatus comprising: severing means; means for feeding said carrots to said severing means with the crown end thereof as the leading end; sensing means positioned at said severing means to sense the presence of a leading shoulder only of said carrot at said severing means, and means for operating said severing means responsive to the sensed presence of said shoulder at said severing means. 